Pragmatics Intern Daniel Park Wins at Yale’s Third Annual Hackathon

Pragmatics announced Nov. 18 that company intern Daniel Park was a member of a winning team at Yale University’s third annual hackathon, YHack, held Nov. 6-8.

“Congratulations to Daniel Park and his team on this prestigious achievement,” Pragmatics COO Joe Brock said. “The ingenuity, skill and determination Daniel exhibited in winning this award are demonstrative of the type of innovative service we strive to deliver to our clients. He is a strong asset to any team, and his success in the YHack is just one example of his inventive skills.”

Park was part of the four-member team that created Met Blue, a response to a challenge by JetBlue Airways at the event. JetBlue challenged hackers to come up with the best continuous scrolling mechanism, using JetBlue’s application program interface (API). Park’s team developed an algorithm that analyzes ticket-buyers’ social media, including past behavior and friends’ trends, to provide catered flights, paired with a hotel as a package. Each Met Blue team member won $1,000; a free trip to anywhere JetBlue flies, with hotel accommodations; and a chance to demonstrate their project at JetBlue headquarters.

The hackathon is designed to encourage students to learn how to code and build outside the classroom environment in an inclusive and enjoyable atmosphere. More than 1,200 students from across the country met on Yale’s Connecticut campus for a weekend of coding, brainstorming and project-building. The participants also learned to appreciate programming, received hands-on experience and took advantage of the opportunity to interact with other hackers. Participants were required to apply and gain acceptance to compete in the hackathon.

Park is a senior at the College of William & Mary, majoring in computer science. He joined Pragmatics as a software engineering intern in the Technology Solutions Group, working on mobile prototypes for Pragmatics clients.